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People, Etc.

January 31, 2012By Sarah Weinman

At Kirkus Media, vp business development Meg LaBorde Kuehn has been promoted to chief operating officer, part of the company’s expansion into new lines of business, including digital marketing solutions for publishers and a growing suite of services for unpublished and self-published authors. Kuehn will report to company president Marc Winkelman and lead the business teams of Kirkus Media, including sales and marketing, technology development and author services. In addition, Casey Gannon moves up to marketing director, Perry Crowe has been named director of Kirkus Editorial (their new book editing division), and Ryan Leahey has been named indie editor, all reporting to Kuehn.

Kristin Cochrane has been promoted to svp, Random House Canada, in addition to her continuing duties as publisher of Doubleday Canada.

At Knopf Canada, Marion Garner has been promoted to associate publisher, adding that to her duties as publisher of Vintage Canada, reporting to Louise Dennys. In addition, Amanda Lewis has been promoted to associate editor.

The American Booksellers Association (ABA) is partnering with The Center for Fiction to promote their annual Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize. Fifty booksellers will be asked to serve as “first-tier readers” of candidates for the prize, and 450 bookstores will receive tabletop displays, posters and shelf talkers for the seven finalists.

Center for Fiction Executive Director Noreen Tomassi says, “We believe that there are no better readers than the people who continue against all seeming odds to own and operate independent bookstores. We are thrilled that we will be working with ABA, an organization we admire so much, to include these booksellers as readers and to feature the short-listed books at more than 450 stores all across the country.”

Barnes & Noble’s is bringing back their BN Recommends program with a new selection, William Landay‘s DEFENDING JACOB, published today by Delacorte. A spokesperson tells us they are “resuming a regular Recommends program” again. The last BN pick was the April 2011 selection, Gary D. Schmidt’s middle-grade novel OKAY FOR NOW.